What does it mean that my Thai client withholds 3%?

A corporate Thai client withholds 3% of your fee before paying you and gives you a 50 Tawi as evidence. For example, a ฿30,000.00 fee is withheld ฿900.00, so you receive ฿29,100.00.

What is the 50 Tawi, and why keep it?

The 50 Tawi is the Section 50 Bis withholding-tax certificate your client issues. The tax withheld is prepaid tax in your name — keep it to credit on your annual return.

How do I get paid by PromptPay?

PromptPay is Thailand’s instant transfer rail. You generate a PromptPay QR tied to your phone or account with the exact amount, the client scans and pays straight into your account, and BillsOS never sees the funds or charges a fee.

For foreign freelancers

Freelance tax in Thailand — a plain-English guide

How to invoice a Thai client, get paid by PromptPay, and handle the 3% withholding tax and the 50 Tawi — explained in plain English for foreign freelancers.

By the BillsOS team · Updated 8 Jun 2026

1) Invoicing a Thai client

Your invoice should carry your and the client’s name and address, tax IDs where applicable, the line items, the amount, and a document number/date. Thai corporate clients often want a bilingual invoice and will use it to process payment in their accounting system.

2) The 3% withholding tax and the 50 Tawi

When your fee meets the threshold, a Thai corporate client must withhold 3% of your (pre-VAT) fee, transfer the remainder to you, and issue a 50 Tawi certifying it remitted that tax in your name.

Fee (before VAT)	฿30,000.00
Total invoiced	฿30,000.00
Less withholding tax 3%	-฿900.00
Net the client pays (QR amount)	฿29,100.00

The direction that matters: On your sales invoice YOU are the payee. The client withholds and issues the 50 Tawi to you — you neither withhold nor issue it. Your job is to keep every 50 Tawi you receive.

3) Getting paid by PromptPay

PromptPay is the instant transfer system Thai clients use daily. Generate a QR with the exact amount, the client scans and pays straight into your account — no intermediary. BillsOS builds the QR offline into your own account, never sees the funds, and charges no per-transaction fee.

Why foreign freelancers pick BillsOS

Bilingual Thai/English documents — readable by your Thai client and by you
Revenue-Department-correct formatting with the withholding/VAT computed correctly
No custody of your money and no fee — funds land in your own PromptPay account

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BillsOS only formats and computes documents for you. This is general information, not tax advice — please confirm with the Revenue Department or your accountant.